Math drills still have value

Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 11:49 AM.

Much of the recent discussion about education has been about new technology and tougher standards; and we, of course, don’t have a problem with either.

However, it was interesting, if not refreshing, to see research that confirms the continued value of the most aged of old reliables, mathematical drill work.

Kids may dread the “pluses,” “minuses” and “timeses,” but it turns out those activities don’t just help them learn math, they actually help develop young brains.

Researchers at Stanford University, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, placed 28 kids ages 7 to 9 in an MRI machine and scanned their brains as they solved simple addition problems. They noted how quickly the kids responded, while documenting their brain activity. They later tested the kids in person and recorded whether they moved their lips or counted on their fingers while solving the problems, as a point of comparison to the MRI data. The tests were repeated a year later.

The verdict? The kids’ answers became faster, more accurate and relied more on memory and less on counting as they got older. That was confirmed by their brain activity, which shifted from the counting regions to the hippocampus, where short-term memory is processed and filed away elsewhere in the brain for long-term storage. The researchers found that the connections between those parts of the brain actually were strengthened as the kids’ math performance improved.

In part two of the test, 20 adolescents and 20 adults were placed in the MRI machine and given the same addition problems as their brains were scanned. Their answers were practically instantaneous and it took little brain exertion to pull them out of storage.

That proves two things, according to the researchers. The brain as it develops becomes more efficient at retrieving facts, and if it doesn’t have to overly exert itself in solving simple problems, it will be more receptive to advanced math concepts.

Much of the recent discussion about education has been about new technology and tougher standards; and we, of course, don’t have a problem with either.

However, it was interesting, if not refreshing, to see research that confirms the continued value of the most aged of old reliables, mathematical drill work.

Kids may dread the “pluses,” “minuses” and “timeses,” but it turns out those activities don’t just help them learn math, they actually help develop young brains.

Researchers at Stanford University, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, placed 28 kids ages 7 to 9 in an MRI machine and scanned their brains as they solved simple addition problems. They noted how quickly the kids responded, while documenting their brain activity. They later tested the kids in person and recorded whether they moved their lips or counted on their fingers while solving the problems, as a point of comparison to the MRI data. The tests were repeated a year later.

The verdict? The kids’ answers became faster, more accurate and relied more on memory and less on counting as they got older. That was confirmed by their brain activity, which shifted from the counting regions to the hippocampus, where short-term memory is processed and filed away elsewhere in the brain for long-term storage. The researchers found that the connections between those parts of the brain actually were strengthened as the kids’ math performance improved.

In part two of the test, 20 adolescents and 20 adults were placed in the MRI machine and given the same addition problems as their brains were scanned. Their answers were practically instantaneous and it took little brain exertion to pull them out of storage.

That proves two things, according to the researchers. The brain as it develops becomes more efficient at retrieving facts, and if it doesn’t have to overly exert itself in solving simple problems, it will be more receptive to advanced math concepts.

What does that mean in non-scientific and non-anatomical language? Keep downloading math apps or, if you want to be retro, pulling out flash cards, and use them. Make sure your kids know simple equations like 3+5=8 and 6x9=54 so well that answering them is as natural and routine as breathing.

It might seem like drudgery to youngsters who’d rather be playing Skylanders, but it’s beneficial medicine that they’ll eventually be thankful for.

Math is a key component in many of today’s flourishing career tech fields, and it all starts with the “pluses,” “minuses” and “timeses.”

This editorial first appeared in the Gadsden Times, a Halifax Media Group newspaper in Alabama.